Stockport - Cheshire - England

At Stockport Golf Club you will find a moderately undulating mature parkland course that will ask tough questions of every part of your game.

The first five holes are a real test; the 463-yard par four opener and the stroke-index one fourth in particular. The middle section of the layout provides the best opportunity to improve your scorecard with three par fives (holes 6, 9 and 12) in the space of just six holes. However, in this mix you also have the treacherous par-three eighth and the demanding tenth.

The eighth hole is worthy of special mention. Played slightly downhill I wouldn’t normally be a fan of a par-three that is closely bordered by out-of-bounds at both sides and behind the green but it actually works really well here. However, it is the sloping green that falls from front-to-back and left-to-right, in an almost reverse-redan fashion, that makes it so good. Despite maxing out at 201 yards it is effectively a par 3 ½ hole!

The real strength of Stockport lies in the options it presents from the tee; on a number of occasions you can chose to play safe to a wider part of the fairway or risk a longer club but risk flirting with bunkers or trees. The greens are also really well protected by bunkers and with glassy greens all departments of your game need to be in good working order to score well at this delightful Cheshire course.

Ed is the founder of Golf Empire – click the link to read his full review.

Played the course yesterday in a competition, which I was looking forward to. The course was lush and wet in places as was to be expected in the current weather. It was perfectly playable although some drops had to be made due to casual water. The greens were strange and we spent the round debating why that was. They were spongey to walk on and the ball hit them and pretty much stuck like a dart, but then when putting they were quick.With some extreme pin positions this made for a tricky day on the greens. We were wondering if the club had been ironing the greens, the top layer of grass seemed crispy as if it had been slightly burnt. Some golfers will enjoy this experience others not, in my opinion its not really in keeping with the rest of the course, but if the other alternative is wet, slow and spongey greens then fair enough. Its not an easy task, especially in our climate. Personally I would be expecting something more mid paced. Will be interesting to see if anyone responds.

Not the longest or the toughest but always well manicured, although the greens were a bit hit and miss today, but it didnt spoil the round. There are some fantastic holes on both nines, with lots of undulations, and tall pines. The club house is great and the food our society had was excellent, for a reasonable price. Well worth a visit. We were also blessed with great weather. Recommended.